Who's That Girl

WHO'S THAT GIRL: A higher education obsessed foodie who is documenting her life in the kitchen. I love to cook delicious, gourmet-style foods for those I love and always welcome a challenge in the kitchen.
With that challenge comes an impromptu nature. I tend to avoid following recipes to the exact, so you are not likely to find very many posted here. Being that I am a Libra and am learning to be free in the kitchen, the story always goes, "A pinch of this and a smattering of that!"
Thank you for visiting -- and happy reading!

Saturday, December 4, 2010

FOOD CHALLENGE: Thanksgiving Leftovers

Nancy and I didn't have Thanksgiving leftovers for this week's challenge. This is the challenge that stems from a group I am part of.

Each week, one person from the group of us ladies on rotation chooses a food item. Then we all have one week to cook that surprise item it into a dish, whether an entree, appetizer, desert drink -- whatever we individually choose.

I didn't cook a Thanksgiving meal with a turkey, stuffing, cranberries (*bleecchhht*), collard greens or anything of the sort. I made that awesome lamb ragu -- remember that?! Amazing dish.

Actually, I am thinking about redoing it this week, with some modifications and techniques to bring out the flavors even more.

Anyway, the lamb ragu dish was so delicious we had no leftovers by the time the new challenge item came out a couple of days later.

This created a conundrum.

I had no interest in foregoing the week's challenge merely because I did not make a traditional Thanksgiving meal.

Instead, I scoured the fridge for Thanksgiving-like items.

I am not sure how I got it into my head that sauerkraut was actually a Thanksgiving-type dish, but -- I believe -- this had been common among Polish immigrants celebrating the holiday in the state.

Nonetheless, I so happened to have some sauerkraut and some chicken apple sausage. Oh! And I also had some ground lamb leftover. I figured this would make a wonderful marriage.

*laughs maniacally*

Wrong, wrong, wrong!

Let's first talk about procedure.

I was like a mad woman in the kitchen. After I cut up the sausages (which would have been amazing ON THEIR OWN) I layered them in a Crock Pot with the sauerkraut and ground lamb.

That was mistake No. 1.

I should have let the sauerkraut cook in the spices for a while with the vegetables before adding the additional meats.

I digress.

I put everything in the pot together. Meats, kraut, red bell peppers and spices: celery salt, onion powder, pepper. I am not sure what else, but I am certain that I put another three or four spices in the mix. I then added vegetable stock and a little bit of water, put the pot on high and walked away content.

Yes, folks -- content. That was mistake No. 2 -- being so sure of myself. *hahahahaha*

Yes, I laugh now. I wasn't laughing when I tasted the dish.

The sausage was amazing! ...but everthing else was a massive, epic fail. The kraut was so very bitter! And the ground lamb was grainy. Overall, the flavor was tart beyond any ability to save it. I write this off as a tremendous failure.

The best part about the dinner was the cheesy bread Nancy made. She melted goat cheese mozzarella on ciabatta bread. Don't let the photos fool you. Seriously, we just at the cheesy bread and called it a night.